All the couples and their dance styles have come in! Click View Full Post for more details! Comment and discuss. Confirmed: Evan & Randi – Broadway – Joey Dowling Phillip & Jeanine – Hip Hop – Nappy Tabs Vitolio & Karla – Quickstep – Jean Marc Generaux Kupono & Kayla – Contemporary – Sonya Tayeh Brandon & Janette – Cha Cha – Jean Marc Generaux Ade & Melissa – Pas de Deux – Desmond Richardson? Jason & Caitlin – Pop Jazz – Brian Friedman
Adam Shankman tweeted there will be a big announcement on Wednesday. I wonder what it’s about. Could be possibly a MJ tribute, special guests on 100th episode, or tour info?!
Nappy Tabs is doing hip hop this week. Mia Michaels will be on the judging panel. Watch out Brandon! Tyce Diorio will be choreographing a group number for the results show, and Nigel has asked Paula Abdul if she would like to choreograph a MJ tribute dance. Desmond Richardson and Patricia Hachey will be the guest dance performers.
Check out S3′s Jesus Solorio partnering Trice on the first week of Oxygen’s Dance Your Ass Off! I miss seeing him on TV every week! These two were awesome!
Hi everyone! We’re going to work with gendance this week to put together kind of a tribute wall for MJ, made up of dancers and dance fans’ thoughts on the King of Pop.
As fellow dance industry icons and fans, let’s celebrate the idol that gave us many of the reasons why we get up everyday and love what we do for dance. Please express your gratitude and prayers to Michael by sharing your thoughts and contributing them to the special wall. The wall will be featured in this coming Thursday’s edition of gendance!
A few words are all that is needed! To respond, please email trendme@gendance.com or simply leave a comment (20 words or less, with a name) and I will email them myself!
Thanks for participating, the more the merrier.
If you know a dancer who’s worked with him, or admires the King of Pop, and you know they’ll want to say something please forward this to them and have them email us by Monday. The wall is growing with love and support.
This morning I had the pleasure of chatting with Jonathan Platero, the latest dancer to be eliminated from So You Think You Can Dance.
Jonathan, a cute as a button salsa dancer and tumbler, impressed Mary Murphy with what she said was a So You Think You Can Dance first: he performed far better outside of his genre. Despite his early elimination, Jonathan’s contemporary routine with Karla to “Falling Slowly,” will be remembered as one of the best of the season. (And yes, I feel completely confident saying that three weeks in to the competition.) Ultimately, Jonathan suffered at the unenviable hands of the dreaded partner-less salsa solo, which he tried to spice up with one too many tumbling passes for the judges taste.
Jonathan and I chatted about our mutual adoration for Stacey Tookey’s contemporary routine, the closeness of the cast of So You Think You Can Dance, Twitter, and what’s next for him.
For the entire audio clip and some highlights, visit BuddyTV!
Oh no, we must say goodbye to another pair tonight!
SYTYCDism’s B3: Asuka & Vitolio, Karla & Jonathan, Caitlin & Jason SYTYCDism’s Picks To Leave: Asuka Kondoh & Jonathan Platero Rickey.org’s Picks To Leace: Asuka Kondoh & Jonathan Platero Trandrew’s Picks To Leave: Caitlin Kinney & Jonathan Platero
What do you think?
Live chat tonight! Results in the cut (Click View Full Post)!
You might be wondering how Michael Jackson has anything to do with So You Think You Can Dance. Truth is, Michael Jackson has had a near infinite influence on the world, and despite what he may or may not have done with his personal life, most if not all will agree with me that he is the “common denominator for everyone.”
I can’t even get into how he has affected dance, let alone music, because this post would probably take about a whole semester to write. But within So You Think You Can Dance, the king of pop can be seen from being Jason Glover‘s (S5) childhood obsession and idol to the movements of Wade Robson‘s Sexyback season two finale group dance. The influences of MJ can be seen all over SYTYCD, I mean, how many people have done moonwalks on the show?
Even in a random thread made up of SYTYCD fans from across the Americas, Michael Jackson’s passing brought us together. All different people of different ages, different backgrounds, different beliefs, posting in unity lamenting over MJ just shows how big of a legacy he has left for this world. Did I mention that Facebook, Twitter, and Livejournal pretty much exploded once the news came out?
There’s not much else to say right now, as I think everyone pretty much feels the same way as I do about MJ’s passing, so I’ll just post up some SYTYCD-affiliated thoughts.
Adam Shankman: Just meditating on the meaning of the three surreal entertainers deaths. Michael, I believe yours and lifes rules were at odds… I pray you finally find peace now.
Comfort Fedoke (S4): MICHAEL JACKSON DESERVES A BREAK FROM MEDIA AND THE WORLD HE IS IN GODS HANDS NOW. I CANT BELIEVE THIS!!! IM IN TEARS NOW! I LOVE YOU MICHAEL WITH ALL MY HEART REST IN PEACE IMA KEEP HIM IN MY PRAYERS AS WELL AS THE WORLD SHOULD THE KING OP POP IS NO LONGER WITH US!
Lacey Schwimmer (S3): Pop will NEVER be the same. RIP MJ<3
Neil Haskell (S3): A very sad day for music fans everywhere …
Mary Murphy: Michael Jackson just passed away. I am so sad and crying in my dressing room, this will be a hard show to get through tonight .
Napolean and Tabitha D’umo: Sad news about Michael Jackson! VERY SAD.
Hok Konishi (S3): Omg… I can’t believe it…
Blake McGrath (S1): Michael jackson will always live as the one like neo incomparable as bad as the come walks on the moon his death is a thriller MJ RIP
Shane Sparks: Today is my birthday and Micheal Jackson dies this is a sad day;(
Jason Williams (S2): Riding down the street BLASTING ALL MJ!!! RIP!!! I can’t believe this day!!!
Dominic Sandoval (S3): my heart hurts rite now… dont know what to feel
William Wingfield (S4): Sleep In Peace Michael. U r IV EVER the king!!!
Gev Manoukian (S4): Is speechless, I cant believe that Michael Jackson has passed away today.
Benji Schwimmer (S2): King of Pop’s legacy lives on!!!!!
Joshua Allen (S4): THE REASON WHY I EVEN STARTED DANCE JUST PASSED AWAY! I LOVE YOU MICHAEL “AND THATS IV REAL”
Nick Lazzarini (S1): Sad day…..i miss you cross my heart
Travis Wall (S2): Today was a lot. RIP MICHAEL! MAY YOU LIVE FOREVER IN ALL OF US! DEFINATELY THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE ARTIST OF ALL TIME
This is all I can find right now, but I’m sure everyone has their own thoughts around the same point: Michael Jackson will be missed.
Watch the season four cast dance to Thriller by Michael Jackson during their Halloween show on tour.
Uploaded by asteriti326
And here’s a clip of Wade Robson back in 1990 on Star Search. I can’t even imagine what he is feeling now. The first half of Wade’s dance career and what probably even started his dance career was imitating Michael Jackson.
Uploaded by kaleniX.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
And here’s gendance‘s interview with Maksim Kapitannikov (S5)!
Max Kapitannikov is the lovable Latin Ballroom specialist who just left SYTYCD. Listen up as he tells us about dancing for 12 hours straight and running away from security guards in the middle of the night.
Who are your Latin Ballroom idols? Bryan Watson. He’s the father. Before him is Donnie Burns. Everyone looks up to him.
Why do you think you got eliminated? A lot of great dancers were in the Top 18. The guys in the bottom 3 deserved to stay. They bring something different to the show and their personalities are great.
What do you hope America remembers you for? My hard work and everything I put into the show. I was bringing something different.
Which judges did you like the best? Nigel and Mary. Their comments gave me something I could take back and work on. I really appreciate that.
Would you have done anything differently during your time on the show? I thought about it this morning. I said, “Max, you did everything you could.” I feel pretty proud and I have no regrets.
Who was the best choreographer to work with? Definitely Mia Michaels. She was the one who was really deep and understanding in terms of what dancers really need to bring it to the next level. It’s not just about the dance itself. It’s more about being human. She made a huge impact on my dancing and I’ll never forget it.
Who do you think will win Season 5? My partner, Kayla Radomski. She’s just very talented. We understood each other in work ethics and the way we approached the competition. I hope she goes all the way and that she opens up even more to America.
Your schedule is so hectic. Do you get to sleep? For about 5 hours every night. We have Sundays “off”, but it’s up to you to come out and practice on your own. Monday-Thursday is crazy, waking up at 6 am every day. We film the show on Tuesday and everyone’s tired from rehearsing all day Monday. Wednesday we learn group choreography and dance for 12 hours. I never really did these things before, so I had to work harder. I couldn’t sleep because my muscles would hurt so badly. I took a lot of baths with Epsom salt. But I learned how to move in ways I never did before. It was a huge achievement for me.
Any bloopers? Falls, slips, trips? There were a lot of off camera incidents. We would practice in our apartments, in the hallways until 1 am. We’d run away from the security guards, as they’d yell at us. Then we’d get complaints.
You’re from Brooklyn. Which ballroom hotspots do you go to? Dance Times Square, (gd shout out to Melanie and Tony!) Ballroom on 5th, Studio 101, Fred Astaire studios.
What’s next for you? I want to stay in the zone. I don’t want to lose this adrenaline rush. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to get out there and take some classes. I’ll take some classes with my girlfriend at BDC. My girlfriend auditioned for Season 6 so I’ll help prepare her.
What words of wisdom do you have for the gendance readers? If you dance, try to dance as loud as you can with your body, with your mind and with your soul. You can’t be afraid to open up. Once you do, you’ll be able to dance even louder.
Do you wanna give any shout outs to your friends who will compete tonight? Pono, make sure your room is a mess at least one time. To my partner, Kayla, stay on track and take care of your back. Brandon and Ade, you guys are hilarious. Everyone else, keep up the good work.
If you haven’t already subscribed to gendance, please do so here with VIP code “SYTYCDISM”! They will be interviewing every contestant who gets eliminated so it will be definitely worth the newsletter to your email!
Who are your Latin Ballroom idols?